Edward Abbey And Wasteland And An Elegy

Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” and Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” include parallel ideas of Man’s hopelessness in the natural world. Through out both short stories the authors bring up questions of man’s fate and his relationship with nature as well as carry a theme of naturalism. When nature seems to repeatedly play against man, the reader wonders we whether nature is cruel and sinister, making it difficult for man to live. Evidence in the the two stories such as the animal’s presence, the environments, and the different human characters, in both stories leads one to believe that nature is not in fact out to get man, but it is a neutral, indifferent factor.

In the book World Without Us, author Alan Weisman talks about what would happen to the natural and built environment we’ve established if humans suddenly disappeared. In Chapter two, Unbuilding Our Home, Weisman effectively informs his readers of the total control that nature has on our society by describing the immediate effect it takes on our own homes. He forces the readers to recognize that we coexist with nature yet nature has the upper hand on man-made objects. Weisman achieves this by targeting the reader’s emotions through description and personification and by providing insight that appeals to the reader’s intellect of the future.

As the snake “drew back his head and [the man] raised [his] weapon” they both were ready for their last fight. Both felt threatened by each other; thus, both felt the necessity to become defensive. However, neither one saw the situation as an immediate threat, so they did not immediately strike. When the narrator “made an unprovoked attack,” the snake performed “a little song of death.” The reader’s sympathy for the snake once again returns because the snake did nothing wrong. The “little song of death” depicts an image of the snake’s last effort to live. However, there is nothing “little” in death, but rather displays the snake’s submissiveness to the man. The “ominous” situation with “poison dripping from [the snake’s] fangs” is reminiscent of the tragedy that just occurred. The author reminds the reader of the necessity to rid the world of the danger from a snake. It lessens the reader’s grief towards the snake, bringing a more neutral tone to the

People and the landscape are inextricably linked and consequently each play a role in shaping the other. The texts we have studied show the implications for the individuals present based on their treatment of the landscape, highlighting the connection between the two. Both Judith Wright in her poems “Brother and Sisters” and “The Hawthorne Hedge” as well as Michael Wilding in his short story “As Boys to Wanton Flies” showcase the emotional ties between the individuals and the landscape. Both composers, through their chosen text demonstrate how the individuals are connected, influenced and shaped by the landscape showing that they are not merely inhabitants but are a part of their chosen landscape. This has been done to highlight the involvement

In the essay, “A Literature of Place”, Barry Lopez expresses the importance of nature as it applies to human life. Through this he states that humans’ imagination are inspired by the scenery around them. Lopez revolves around a central perspective; Ancient american literature has always been rooted in nature. By acknowledging that modern human identity has been interpreted by nature, Lopez describes how the landscape of an area can shape the structure of the communities and how it can help with spiritual collapse. Nature writing has often been summarised by being one of the oldest threads in american literature. With our nation's aging one needs to reflect on their literary past; therefore, Lopez insists that we find our path to nature that

The author’s diction heightens the intensity and power the snake brings as it also aids in describing the inner thoughts of the protagonist. When the main character saw that the snake was “waiting for him”, he “stopped short” and the snake continued to “[hold] his ground”. The snake created anticipation as he completed these actions, therefore causing the man to feel curious and uneasy. Like a “live wire” the snake “drew his head back,” preparing to strike, this action seemed effortless and almost as if it was a “mechanical reflex”. The reptile is seen as being extremely lethal due to its quick and natural reflexes. Snakes similar to this one are born with the same instinct as their hominid adversaries; to survive. The diction in “The Rattler” effects the tone that is understood by the audience. Detail is another key factor when trying to convey the deeper meaning within the narrative.

Throughout history, humans have had a strong reliance on nature and their environment. As far back as historians can look, people have depended on elements of nature for their survival. In the past few decades, the increased advancement of technology has led to an unfortunate division between humans and nature, and this lack of respect is becoming a flaw in current day society. In Last Child in the Woods, Louv criticizes modern culture by arguing that humans increasing reliance on technology has led to their decreasing connection with nature through the use of relevant anecdotes, rhetorical questions and powerful imagery to appeal to ethos.

Humans are born from and return to earth at death; human beings and nature are bound up each other. Yet, the technological modern world has shaped humans to be oblivious of nature and the ethnocentrism has positioned human beings above all other things. Nature has become resources for people and nothing more than that. David Abram, the author of the Ecology of magic, travels into the wild, traditional land in search of the relation between magic and nature; the meaning nature holds in the traditional cultures. Abram intends to communicate his realization of the magical awareness of the countless nonhuman entities and the necessity of the balance between the human communities and the nature to the readers, hoping the Western technologized

Animal motifs add significance to the narrative when Mildred, the wife of Montag, is treated with a snakelike mechanism. Bradbury’s intent to use an animal metaphor is to enlighten the reader about how wildlife is misrepresented during the work of literature. Within the world of destruction he created, Bradbury explains the lack of construction; therefore, the natural order is distorted. Over the course of the writing, creatures portray the corrupt environment; for instance, Montag describes, “They had this machine. They had two machines, really. One of them slid into your stomach like a black cobra down an echoing well looking for all the old water and the old time gathered there. It drank up the green matter that flowed to the top in a slow boil” (Bradbury 12). As Mildred lays unconscious in her bed the operator uses a snakelike pump machine to drain and replace Mildred’s blood; evidently, the symbol of animals is used to connect the meaning of altered

Val Plumwood in her essay “Paths Beyond Human-Centeredness,” illustrates the impact that humans have on nature and non-animals when it comes to preserving environments. Understanding that nature has it’s living properties that let it thrive among its resources allows for people to grasp the complexities that come about when construction companies destroy the environment in which they work. Plumwood uses the term dualism to refer to the sharp distinction between two classes of individuals. There is the high class, which is considered as the “One.” In contrast, the other side of the division consists of individuals that are classified as lower and are subordinates to the “One” as “Others.” This account on dualism allows the reader to understand how humans can significantly alter the environment because of the way they perceive its resources and inhabitants. Plumwood defines five characteristics that illustrate the oppressive actions that change the connection between human relations and the relationship between humans and nature.

The difference between “Serpents of Paradise” by Edward Abbey and “Thinking Like a Mountain” by Aldo Leopold is specifically that one essay focuses more on the hunting aspect of life. Both essays seem to care about the environment. In Abbey’s essay he tries to figure out how to avoid killing the snake; he needed to stay calm and move it without getting bit. In Leopold’s essay he killed a wolf to save the deer population; allowing him to hunt more deer. Each essay was written with great description, yet showing one author cared more about the animal and its environment over the other. In both Leopold and Abbey essays they wanted to alter their environment, but only Abbey succeeded due to Abbey having the correct knowledge when it came to his environment.

The atmosphere in this extract is somber. This is especially visible in the third paragraph in the following words: spilling over, haunting his nose, the taint of death. All these words have a negative feel to it, which sets a pessimistic tone for the situation. The main character is located in a decaying and post-apocalyptic world. The mentioning of World War Terminus explains that this is indeed a post-apocalyptic setting: the final world war has ended all disagreements and left the world in dust. This dust is described as omnipresent dust that deranges minds and genetic properties. Dick shows that this is a dangerous and very damaged world, which fits with the atmosphere he’s setting. Dick also points out that competition and status are highly valued in this world, because all habitants fight a silent competition: who owns the best animal? The importance of the animals, a sheep in Rick Deckard’s case, is shown with the usage of “bamboozled”. Rick believes that his sheep is the best, even though it’s not real, and therefore bamboozles all the other animals. This word shows the naivety of the people and their willingness to achieve status. This can be seen as a negative trait, because they are fooling each other with fake animals to achieve said status. Therefore, this contributes to a negative

Nature creates, then nature destroys, and this pattern is eternally repeated. The planet Earth exists in all its magnificence through a series of functioning cycles (water, carbon, etc.) that, combined, can be deemed one solitary process: the life cycle. Dylan Thomas’ poem “The Force That Through The Green Fuse Drives The Flower” creates a dramatic illustration of this cycle. The imagery Thomas evokes of the natural world is beautiful yet simultaneously haunting. Readers envision the growth of a flower, and hear the sounds of waves crashing through rocks, but the sense of dread induced by images of quicksand and blood turned wax gives a sinister edge to

Here, Harry explicitly acknowledges that the aspect of the Absurd, the “ambiguity” and “void” that is contained within it, perpetuate his suffering and alienation. The metaphors on the bourgeois and the imagery used in this passage accentuate the vividness of his experience and that he is not unaware what the wolf means, but that he simply cannot be at ease

Atwood’s use of ironic tone is very clear and noticeable throughout the poem. Atwood divides her poem, The Animals in that Country, into two parts. Part one goes from line 1 to line 21. The second part of the poem goes from line 22 to line 30. From the first part of the poem to the second half of the poem, the significant shift of tone is very clear to the readers. Atwood’s tone goes from being calm and admiring to being bitter and aghast, very fast. The first part of the poem starts with “In that country the animals have the faces of people” (1-2). This is clearly ironic, because we all know that animals don’t really have the faces of humans. Atwood is being sarcastic. In the first part of the poem, Atwood explains how animals in countries, other than the speaker’s country, are treated with respect and great dignity. Atwood starts the second part of the poem with “In this country the animals have faces of animals” (21-23). Throughout the short, but descriptive and significant, second part of the poem Atwood describes how in “this country” most people don’t care about the animals of their own country and show them little to no respect, whatsoever. This is very significant to support Atwood’s belief that most humans have lost all their connection to the natural world.